---------------------------------------------------------- RV9-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 05/31/08: 1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 10:01 PM - Bending Trailing Edge of a "One" Piece Rudder Skin (Garey Wittich) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 10:01:22 PM PST US From: Garey Wittich Subject: RV9-List: Bending Trailing Edge of a "One" Piece Rudder Skin Greetings: A note that might help you. With the 1/8" dowel rod taped to the inside of the trailing edge of the Rudder Skin, I placed a towel inside the Skin covering the Skin Stiffeners. Using Vans recommended wood bending brake I was able to bend the Skin so it just touched the Rudder's Spar. It took about 9 compressions of the Skin to accomplish this - each time it got closer to touching the Spar. During the bending of the Skin the Stiffeners did NOT do any damage to the Skin because of the towel - even though they came in contact with the Skin during the last 2 or 3 compressions. The Skin came out flat until the last 1/8" (as desired) of the trailing edge near the bottom and top Ribs and the worst was 3/8" along the trailing edge. To get the desired 1/8" radius, I took my Hand Seamer (about 2" wide) and put 6 layers of masking tape on each jaw surface for padding - so as not to dent the Skin. Placed the Hand Seamer's rear edge about 1/2" from the trailing edge and gave a gentle squeeze (a few times as required) where the radius needed to be better - making sure the Squeezer was applying EQUAL pressure on both sides of the Skin. This worked well - no dented Skin. The Wooden Brake I made was made out of a straight (in length) 2" X 8" that had been sawed in half to make 2, 2" X 4"s. The bending surfaces were "plained" with a carpenters adjustable electrical plainer to make them absolutely "smooth" and covered with Duct Tape. Hope this helps someone, Garey (Santa Monica, CA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message rv9-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/RV9-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/rv9-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/rv9-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.